Just Be There for Me
by KitaxHaku
Summary: Sadie is really optimistic, but everyone has bad days. But why are there always people who aim to make those days worse? Why are there people like Lars? LarsxSadie
1. Chapter 1

So I've been extremely obsessed with SU, and Sadie and Lars have slowly risen to be my favorite characters. I don't really know why. But anyway, I figured I'd write a nice piece of fanfiction for the two of them. This isn't going to be completely romantic, or completely friendship based-I don't know, I'm writing this on a whim, but it'll be touching either way.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! And make sure to support Steven Universe!

xoxox Kita

* * *

Six in the morning was way too early. Sure, some people like Sadie were optimistic, but that didn't mean they were all morning people.

Yawning, Sadie struggled to fix her tired eyes on the door of the doughnut shop. If only she had a car…then maybe she wouldn't have to wake up so early to get to work on time. She sighed as she stepped inside and stripped off her jacket. Rubbing her arms, she made her way to the back of the store to get started on the morning preparations. But as she made her way around the counter, she heard her phone ringing from her pocket.

She moaned lightly, knowing exactly who it was before she even picked it up. She had an urge to ignore the call, but she knew her mother would be persistent. Sighing for probably the fifth time, she answered. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Her mother asked in an agitated tone, "You aren't in your room, and you're not—"

"I'm at work!" Sadie said in agitation, "I told you that I have the morning shift every Monday, Wednesday and Friday."

"Hey! There's no reason to get snappy." Her mother shot back. Sadie felt her agitation build, but she only rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sat down and leaned her back on the counter.

"Sorry, mom…it's just that I'm really tired, and I—"

"Well maybe you should quit your job already and focus on school like I suggested!" Her mother interrupted with a humph. Sadie felt the blood in her face drain. Did she really have to deal with this today of all days?

"We've talked about this!" Sadie said with a sigh, "I need the money so that I can get a car. If I don't get a car, I can't get to the concert."

"I don't understand what's so important about that concert."

"It's important to me, mom."

"Is it more important than your education?"

Sadie was saving up for a summer concert since the beginning of the year. She got this job because she wanted to go see her favorite band, even though her mother and father couldn't afford it. But her mom was so controlling sometimes—she wanted Sadie to focus on school and only school—not some silly band. But Sadie needed to see them live. The Rockets were the only ones who had been there for her when her parents had separated. Their music was the only thing that kept her going for a long time.

"Are you ignoring me?"

Sadie couldn't take much more of this. One sided arguments with her mother were things that happened at least every other month, but when they did happen, they really took a toll on her happy-go-lucky attitude on life. She was getting really tired of fighting the pessimism of her mother. And it didn't help that, oh you know, Aunt Flo had come to visit for the week. Sadie was in pain, and it just wasn't a good time for emotional distress.

"I have to go mom." Sadie forced the conversation to come to a close, and she stood up with a sigh. Pain shot through her back, and she rubbed it tenderly as she stood up.

Curse womanhood.

"Troubles in paradise?" Sadie jumped as she turned around, surprised to see a smirking redhead looking down at her. The cocky redhead tried to cover his smirk with his sleeves as he leaned forward, burying the bottom of his face in his crossed arms; he did it mostly because he knew that it irritated Sadie even more than just seeing his smirking face.

"What are you doing here so early?" Sadie asked as she rubbed her eyes and headed for the back. Lars took off his jacket and placed it on the counter before he followed her.

"That's my question. I mean, as much as I love your help,_ I_ have the morning shift today, not you." Sadie opened her mouth and turned to answer, when she realized that he was right. Her alarm hadn't gone off today, and she had thought that it just didn't work. It had been working all right, but Sadie's brain wasn't. It was Tuesday.

She groaned and slapped her hands on her face. She could have gone home and slept if she hadn't just hung up on her mom. If she went back home now, she would have to deal with hearing her mom's rants about her life.

So basically, she was stuck at the Big Donut. In a bad mood. With possibly one of the worst instigators in the world.

She caught a sigh in her throat and forced it back down before she curled her hands into fists and headed to the changing room. "I'm going to take a nap until my shift."

"What? Why don't you just stay up and help me?" Lars called grumpily, "It's not my fault you messed up your schedule. So just stay up and help like you would any other day!"

Sadie held her tongue and continued walking. Today wasn't just any other day. And this really wasn't how she usually reacted to Lars. Heck, this wasn't how she usually reacted to anything. Today was just a really bad day for her, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with Lars's complaints.

"Just wake me up when it's my shift, okay?"

Lars watched his short coworker make her way to the changing room before he grumbled to himself. He had actually been excited when he heard Sadie's voice. It wasn't every morning shift that he got entertainment while mixing ten thousand tons of dough. Still, he knew his limits with Sadie. And after hearing her side of the argument with her mom on the phone, he knew today wasn't a good day for her. She was really touchy about her mom—she never liked it when Lars learned new things about her family. It was something that he used against her whenever he could—just to irk her—but her reaction today had been different, and that was a code red.

_Well, can't do nothin' about it now. _He grunted as he lifted the large sack of flour into the large mixer and emptied it out before taking one more look towards the large closet they called the changing room. Sadie was sitting down in the corner, leaning her head on the wall. She was already out and drooling on her cheek. "Yuck." Lars shuddered as he turned back around and continued to work. But he paused again when he heard her lightly moan. He turned in surprise, but discovered why she had cried out lightly. She was holding her shoulders and shivering.

Even if they lived near the beach, it was still cold this early in the morning. Heck, sometimes the waves added to the cold. And it didn't help that the Big Donut didn't have any heat systems since it was a beach shop. So Sadie was probably cold with only her short sleeved uniform on.

"This is why I tell her to wear a long sleeve shirt under her shirt." Lars mumbled to himself as he threw the flour down on the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets as he made his way back to the front. He lifted Sadie's jacket and made his way to the changing room. Sadie was cold, but she was determined to stay asleep. Lars grabbed Sadie's shoulder and shook her, "Sadie, yo Sadie! Wake up and take the jacket!" But it was useless—she was out for the count. He rubbed the back of his neck as he squatted in front of her. Shrugging with a last sigh, he put the jacket over her shoulders so that the warm lining of the jacket was tucked around her arms. He stood up and went back to work, hoping that Sadie wouldn't say anything when she woke up. He had a reputation to keep up.

Meanwhile, Sadie snuggled deeper into her jacket, and smiled lightly as her cold dream turned into a warm one.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry if there are any mistakes in this one! I wrote it, but then half of my edits didn't save. So the rewrite may have been a little choppy. And I'm tired.

But hey, Chapter two everybody! Enjoy (and I hope you all have a happy New Year!)

And thank you so much for the reviews! Wasn't expecting any so they were a wonderful surprise!

* * *

"Hey Sadie! Hey Lars!" The two employees of Big Donut looked up from their respective magazines to see Steven. Sadie smiled as Lars rolled his eyes.

"Hi Steven!" Sadie said with a smile. She had such a fondness for the little guy. "What can we get for you today?"

"Why does he always come here?" Lars mumbled under his breath as Steven ordered. He couldn't stand the brat—he was like an annoying little brother. And the way Sadie and he always messed around the store…it was just…just dumb!

"Can I have the usual?" Steven asked as he took a crumpled twenty out of his pocket and tossed it towards Lars. The twenty hit Lars in the chest and fell into his open magazine. With a humph, he looked down at Steven, who in response winked and gave him two big thumb ups. Lars rolled his eyes and went to the cashier as Sadie piled doughnuts into a bag. "How has business been today?" Steven asked as he leaned on the counter.

"The same as always; busy in the morning but slow in the afternoon." Sadie responded as she curled the top of the bag and handed it to Steven, "And how are your adventures?"

Steven's eyes glowed; Sadie swore she saw stars in those big brown eyes of his. "They're_awesome_! Last week we destroyed this huge eye in the sky!"

Lars snickered as he handed Steven his change. "Yeah, right, like you're a real hero."

Steven slammed his hands on the counter, startling both Sadie and Lars, "I am a real hero! I'm a gem—" He began to life his shirt, revealing half of a pink gem, but Lars waved his hands.

"Yeah, yeah! I get it, I get it! Just don't lift up your shirt again!"

Sadie jabbed Lars in the stomach with her elbow and sent him a glare before smiling at Steven, "Well, I _always_ got it. And I always believed in you."

Steven smiled back and Lars rolled his eyes for a third time. After a joyful goodbye, Steven left and Sadie went back to her magazine. Lars, on the other hand, glared at her. After a moment, she looked up and noticed his mean stare. "What?"

For a couple of more seconds, he didn't say anything. Then, Lars's nasty look calmed as he crossed his arms. He narrowed his eyes and lifted his eyebrows as he straightened his back to look farther down at her and stretched his back straight to dramatize the effect. Not that he needed to; Sadie was already half his height. "You really seem to like kids, huh?"

Sadie blinked, and then nodded. "Well, yeah. Kids are cool."

"No no no," Lars said, shaking his head before leaning down over her, "I mean…you really _like_like children?"

A swift punch in his gut was Sadie's answer. "What is wrong with you?!" Sadie asked as Lars keeled over and held his stomach. She swatted his head with her rolled up magazine before sitting down and opening it again with a huff. "I swear, sometimes you just say the stupidest things without thinking!"

She just didn't get him sometimes. There were some days when Lars was really cool to hang out with; sometimes they could talk for their entire shifts and have deep, personal conversations. But then other days, like today, Lars was nothing but a big, immature jerk. And she really didn't like that.

"I was just kidding," Lars said as he stood up, still rubbing his sore stomach, "Relax a little and learn to take a joke…sheesh!"

"Your jokes become more and more uncalled for everyday!" Sadie said as she abruptly turned to him with a frown, "And why are you always so mean to Steven?!"

Lars threw his hands up and grumbled before curling his fingers, "Why the heck should I be nice to the brat?"

"Cause he's a kid! A good kid!" Lars didn't expect such a fast answer, and jumped back in surprise. Sadie sighed and waved her hand around as she turned to rest her cheek on her other hand. "And lord knows why, but he looks up to you."

Steven? Look up to him? Lars scoffed, "Yeah, well, if that's true...he's even stupider than I thought."

Sadie threw her hands up in frustration. "You can be such an awesome and nice guy sometimes, and Steven can see that! He's like the only one who can deal with you, even on your bad days! And yet, even then, you're just the worst to him."

"W-well I'm not a nice guy, and you know that!" Lars retorted, fists at his sides, "And I'm not gonna pretend to be someone I'm not!"

Sadie stared at him in silence, her eyebrows lowered deeply. But she only responded with a sigh and returned to her magazine. There was nothing left in this conversation—it would just end up in the two of them ignoring each other for the rest of the shift, and then the next day she'd apologize, and he'd shrug it off. There was no point in arguing—he wouldn't see her point when he felt so justified.

Lars turned red in frustration and went back to his own magazine. 'Nice' wasn't who he was, what he was about.

Being nasty and honest and mean. _That's_ just how Lars was. And hey, after a crappy childhood like his, after being surrounded by drugs and alcohol, he was lucky that he even had sarcasm to hold on to. To be honest, Sadie was just about the happiest thing he could handle—and Steven was too much for him. That's why he couldn't deal with the kid. Lars was the cool, misunderstood guy—he _wanted_ to be the delinquent with the gauges. Because that was what made him comfortable.

But Sadie's face showed her disappointment in him. And _that_ bothered him.

He looked at her, his head tilted only slightly so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were stained with a bright red—she was angry. And yet he noted that her tinted cheeks gave her a different look that he actually liked. Maybe that was why he liked irking her all the time. But it did make him feel a little guilty.

Only a little.

"Ah jeez," Lars rubbed the back of his neck again—a forming habit, he noted. "Look, Sadie, I—"

And at that moment, a customer came in, and Lars stopped his words quickly. Sadie gave him a small glance before tending to the customer. Meanwhile, Lars went to the back and made some more doughnuts in silence.

The two didn't talk for the rest of their shift.


	3. Chapter 3

I finally found some inspirational music, and let me tell you, it got me going. I've been writing for about five hours straight. And this chapter turned out a lot longer than I expected. But heyyyy more for you to read!

Thanks again for the reviews, follows and favorites!

* * *

Sadie had the day off. She woke up relieved, yet still bothered. Since she had the day off, that meant that she didn't have to see Lars for the whole day. But since she didn't see Lars for the whole day, well, that meant that she couldn't really make up with him either.

Sadie wasn't one to not apologize. She recognized it, actually, as one of her biggest flaws. Even when she was right, she apologized like she was the one in the wrong. But, still, she felt an overweighting guilt otherwise, so usually she caved in and did what her conscious told her to do.

Her arguments with Lars were no different, and so waking up with regret from the arguments with him from yesterday weighed heavily on her. Getting up, she noted that it was still early. Maybe if she left now, she'd be able to make it to the Big Donut in time to have a talk with Lars before the morning rush came in.

So she got ready quietly. If things went well, she'd be back in the house before her mom ever noticed she was gone.

Oh if only things worked out like planned.

* * *

Things were boring at the Big Donut. Lars closed his magazine, unable to stare at the skateboards and new punk styles in peace. A quiet Big Donut wasn't anything new, really, but today he felt stressed out and unable to cope with the silence. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he knew why.

It was twelve in the afternoon after a day Sadie and he had argued, and she hadn't come to talk it out. Lars was stressed, angry and apologetic all at the same time, and it drove him nuts.

He began to wonder how long Sadie would be willing to deal with his difficult self, but then shook his head. He wasn't difficult—he was just honest. He kept reminding himself of that, but his self-confident thought process died down as the hours passed on. No one came in for a long while. He could do nothing but sit around and play on his phone, hoping that maybe the frustration of missing a goal in a sports app would distract him from his real-world frustrations.

"Argh!" Lars threw his head onto the counter as he rustled his hair. He hadn't said anything wrong! He had been honest with Sadie as usual! But still…her red stained cheeks kept slipping into his head and made him question himself more and more. What if he had been wrong? What if Sadie was finally sick of arguing with him, of _being_ with him? What if…what if he was going to lose the only real friend he had in this stupid beach town?

It was then that the door opened. Lars sat up straight in surprise, mindlessly blurting out a welcome, "Welcome to Big Donut, where you're guaranteed a big doughnut indeed!" But when he saw who it was, he groaned loudly. There couldn't have been a worse time for Steven to show up, and yet here he was.

"Hey Lars!" Steven's cheeks rose high as he walked forward with a big smile. Lars leaned his hand on his cheek with a groan.

"What do you want, brat?"

Steven didn't say anything for a moment as he looked up at the lanky guy across the counter. "Gee…you don't look very happy."

"Do I_ ever_ look happy?" Lars snapped back. Steven's eyebrows lowered as he tilted his head with a shrug. Lars rolled his eyes and lowered his arm so that he could lean forward with a snarl, "Are you gonna order something, or are you gonna just stand—"

"When Sadie's here you look pretty happy." Lars's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He stared down at Steven, who just smiled back widely, "You guys understand each other the best, so I think that's why you guys are always happy together, even when you don't really look like it. Just like Amethyst and Pearl!"

Lars stared at the kid some more, shocked, but he only smiled in return. Suddenly, Sadie's words filled his mind.

_You can be such an awesome and nice guy sometimes, and Steven can see that! He's like the only one who can deal with you, even on your bad days!_

"Well," Steven shouted optimistically as he put his hands on his hips, bringing Lars out of his thoughts, "I just wanted to stop by and say hi since I know you were lonely without Sadie to keep you company."

Steven turned, leaving Lars a little surprised. Maybe Sadie was right. Maybe he didn't have to be such a big jerk to Steven all the time. He was just a kid. And if people hadn't been jerks to him while he was a child, well, maybe he would have turned out to be more like Steven.

"Hey, brat." Steven turned around, blinking. Lars gave him a light smirk, "Wanna free doughnut? We have some extras."

* * *

Sadie jumped down two stairs and continued to run forward. She was so ticked off; she had planned on going to see Lars hours ago, but her mom had woken up earlier than her—it was an attack she hadn't been suspecting. So she got stuck doing all the chores until four thirty in the afternoon. Sadie took a deep breath as she slowed her jog into a fast walk. Hopefully Lars hadn't closed up early—she still wanted to sort things out before they got any worse between the two of them.

She turned down the shabby broadwalk with Big Donut in her sight. But as she got closer, she began to question if she really wanted to go in there.

Lars was probably really mad at her. She knew that he felt bad about what he said, but he would hold the fact that she had waited so long to come sort things out over her head for weeks if he didn't listen to her apology now. Heck, there was a chance that he wouldn't even listen to her at all. "Maybe I should talk to him during tomorrow's shift…" She mumbled as she approached the front of the store, finding her courage fading with each step. She paused at the corner, suddenly unsure. What was the point of all this? What was the point of constantly arguing and then apologizing when she knew that it'd just happen again?

Maybe it was time for her to stop apologizing to him when he was in the wrong. Maybe it was a sign to her that you couldn't just make people change—especially if they didn't want to. Shaking her head, she decided to make a decision after a little peak inside to see how he looked.

She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but there they were. Steven and Lars were eating doughnuts and laughing together without her there to mediate. She could tell Lars was still being his same old sarcastic, jerk-ish self, but he was also being nice to Steven. And Steven—well, she had never really seen him so excited around Lars before.

She found her cheeks begin to glow red as she stared at Lars's smile. He had actually listened to her. There was actually a chance that he could change for the better. Maybe he could finally see that he wasn't such a bad guy—maybe he could see that he could be happy, too.

* * *

Steven turned around as he heard the bell on the door jingle. When he saw who it was, he smiled widely and ran forward with sticky fingers. "Hey Sadie!"

Sadie wrapped her arms around Steven's shoulders as she smiled widely. "Hey, Steven. Were you keeping Lars company?"

"Yeah, 'cause I know it's boring here without you sometimes." He replied with a wide smile, "Besides, I sense how lonely he was."

"Oh shut up, you little brat!" Lars shouted with tinted cheeks as he shook his fist from behind the counter. He made eye contact with Sadie and turned his head away as he leaned his cheek on his hand and mumbled, "I wasn't that lonely…"

Steven looked at Lars with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and looking up at Sadie. "Anyway, I'm gonna go! The gems should be back by now—they're probably waiting for me!" He said a quick goodbye to Sadie and Lars before running out of the store and back towards his home on the beachside.

Sadie followed the back of Steven's head until he was out of sight and then looked at Lars, who quickly looked away when they made eye contact. Smiling nervously, she made her way towards him. She didn't know what to say; she hadn't been expecting this change of heart from him.

Lars, on the other hand, was silently trying to play it cool. He didn't know what to do or what to say; she had seen him like _that_. He mentally cursed himself—he had let his guard down much more than he had been planning to. _Just be a little nice to the kid_, he had said to himself, but then things just kind of got out of hand, and he found himself enjoying Steven's company. And then Sadie had to come and see it.

"Steven sure looked happy." Sadie pulled a curly piece of hair behind her ear as she finally reached the counter. Lars tried to turn his head even further from facing her.

"Yeah, well, he got a doughnut. Don't all kids get happy over free food?"

Sadie chuckled, and Lars slowly moved his head back towards her. He had only planned to steal a glance, but Sadie's smile held him in a spell; when his eyes met her curved lips, he shivered. And the way her left eye squinted more than her right, the way that her rounded nose scrunched up, the way her shoulders bounced softly, and god damn it, the way her cheeks became flustered with a rosy red—he found himself captivated. But once her chuckle was over, she noticed his stare, and he looked away quickly. Sadie leaned onto the counter with a small smile as she rubbed one hand on top of the other.

"Well, I just thought I'd come in and say hi."

"Yeah? Well, you didn't really need to." Lars nearly wacked himself in the forehead, but instead he held an apathetic face. Why was he being mean to her now? It was obvious that she had come to sort things out, and here came his stupid mouth just in time to ruin things all over again. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as his cheeks began to tingle with blush, "B-but it was nice of you, I guess…"

Sadie's smile widened as she watched his internal struggle. "Need any help closing? I was thinking afterwards we could go scare couples from under the docks."

Lars looked at her with a blink, which she answered with a mischievous grin. He nodded slowly with a small grin, taking a mental note that he wasn't the only one with a secret side…

"That sounds awesome."

Sadie held the eye contact for a moment longer before she started to take off her jacket while heading to the back. In her jacket's pocket, however, her phone began to vibrate. With no one to answer, the call went to voicemail. Too bad Sadie was bad at checking that thing.


End file.
